Top 10 Filmmakers That Have Never Won a Best Director Oscar

Script written by Nick Spake

Top 10 Filmmakers That Have Never Won A Best Director Oscar

They've all left an everlasting mark on cinema, even if they don't have a certain accolade to show for it. Welcome to http://www.WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Filmmakers That’ve Never Won a Best Director Oscar.

For this list, we’re taking a look at prominent directors that never took home an Academy Award for their directing work. However, filmmakers who have been recognized with Honorary Oscars and wins in other categories are still eligible, as long as they never achieved the highest honor for a director.

#10: Sergio Leone

When we think of the Spaghetti Western genre, this Italian filmmaker immediately comes to mind. Sergio Leone will always be best remembered for his thrilling “Dollars” trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name. He’d follow up those three films with the equally epic “Once Upon a Time” trilogy. While Leone is often considered one of our most influential directors, he never merited more than a Golden Globe nomination for his final film and arguably his magnum opus, “Once Upon a Time in America.”

#9: Robert Altman

Where most filmmakers would retire long before turning 81, Robert Altman continued making movies until his death in 2006. That same year, Altman received an Honorary Oscar for his enduring career in film. While it was great to see Altman finally receive an Academy Award after several nominations, it’s still hard to believe he never actually won a competitive Oscar. Nevertheless, Altman will always be remembered as a natural filmmaker, bringing us timeless classics like “M*A*S*H,” “Nashville,” and “The Player.”

#8: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino’s one of the coolest and most beloved directors still making movies today. Crafting some of the most enthralling dialogue ever in movies like “Pulp Fiction” and “Django Unchained,” the Academy couldn’t deny Mr. Tarantino two Best Original Screenplay Oscars. However, they’ve yet to award him for his directing. While the script is usually the highlight of any Tarantino production, this filmmaking visionary also injects unparalleled style, atmosphere, and references into every shot he takes. Even if Tarantino made a dialogue-free movie, we’re confident it’d be a feat of directing.

#7: Ingmar Bergman

This illustrious Swedish director made over sixty films and merited three Academy Awards for Best Fore Film, five nominations for Best Original Screenplay, one for Best Picture and three nods for Best Director throughout his esteemed career. However, if you’re keeping score, that means he has zero Best Director Oscars to show for his achievements. Known for making commentary on death, illness, and human emptiness, maybe his movies were just too grim for the Academy to honor. Regardless, Bergman will forever go down as one of cinema’s most poetic and passionate artists. The chess scene from “The Seventh Seal” in particular stands out as an immortal moment in movie history.

#6: Federico Fellini

Federico Fellini accumulated twelve Academy Award nominations, four of which were for Best Director. He additionally directed four films thatwent on to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, including “8½.” Alas, this Italian neorealist only has an Honorary Oscar to his name. However, the impact he had on cinema is undeniable. Almost every acclaimed modern filmmaker, from Martin Scorsese to Woody Allen, has drawn inspiration from his work. Never afraid to touch base on politics, religion, or sexuality, Fellini’s movies are the stuff that dreams are made of.

#5: Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin received two Honorary Academy Awards and finally won an Oscar for Best Original Score in 1973, but this icon of the silent movie era was never even nominated for Best Director. Part of this was likely because the popularity of silent movies started to die out in the ‘30s and Chaplin became an increasingly controversial figure in the ‘40s. Plus, slapstick comedies have rarely been taken seriously at the Oscars. In retrospect, though, the Academy must be kicking themselves for not recognizing the Little Tramp for his innovative direction.

#4: David Fincher

He has made several of the most captivating psychological thrillers of the past two decades. In addition, however, David Fincher has demonstrated significant range as a filmmaker with heartwarming epics like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and fascinating, timely dramas like “The Social Network.” Fincher holds the highest spot of any living director on this list, giving us hope that he’ll be able to put an Oscar on his mantle someday. That being said, what does this guy have to do to win a Best Director Oscar already?

#3: Akira Kurosawa

It’s shocking to think that the master behind “Rashomon,” “Seven Samurai,” and “Yojimbo” only received one Best Director nomination during his career, for “Ran.” His films helped introduce Japanese cinema to Western audiences, and influenced numerous other filmmakers around the world through his revolutionary cinematic techniques and human themes. Kurosawa’s films might have been overlooked by the Academy for years, but they did at least recognize him with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1990. It’s only fitting that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who Kurosawa significantly impacted, presented him with this overdue prize.

#2: Stanley Kubrick

Some of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpieces, like “The Shining” and “Eyes Wide Shut,” were misunderstood upon initial release. The Academy did acknowledge several of his films, though, including “Dr. Strangelove” and “A Clockwork Orange.” Despite his numerous nominations, Kubrick only won one Oscar for the astounding visual effects in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But Kubrick’s movies only get better with time. Looking back on his incredible track record, it’s shocking the Academy never presented him a Best Director Oscar for his groundbreaking contributions to cinema – but then again, all the best artists are more appreciated when they’re gone.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Sidney Lumet
- Ridley Scott
- John Cassavetes
- Paul Thomas Anderson

#1: Alfred Hitchcock

That’s right, Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense and arguably one of the greatest directors who ever lived, never won one competitive Oscar for directing. He wasn’t even nominated for several of the pictures that are now his most respected works, like “Strangers on a Train” and “Vertigo.” This Oscar injustice goes to show that it doesn’t always matter if you’ve made some of the most iconic, influential, and important movies of all time; even the best can go home empty handed. But perhaps knowing that he’s so many classics is the only reward a director truly needs.

Do you agree with our list? What other directors deserved Oscar gold? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.